Category Archives: Artist of the Month

I know there is a recurring theme of country musicians featured as our Artists of the Month, but bear with me.

Even if you aren’t a country music fan, if you watched the most recent Grammy’s, you’ll have a fair idea of who Little Big Town are. They are the group of four (two men and two women) that won the Grammy for the Best Country Duo/Music Group Performance for their hit song Girl Crush, and they also had the honour of performing that song on stage.

Introducing February’s Artist of the Month… Little Big Town!

Much serious in one picture.

In a music genre that is so behind the times traditional, it should come as no surprise that Girl Crush certainly pushed the barriers and stirred a lot of controversy between country music fans even though it shouldn’t because it’s the 21st century. If you hear the song playing, you will envision a story of a woman being obsessed with another woman and wanting to be her lesbian lover. If you actually listen to the song, though, you will witness a story of a woman who is in love with a man who is actually with someone else, so the first woman wants to be the second woman so the man will love her instead. Sounds like a standard love song, right? Well, with lyrics like “I want to taste her lips, yeah ‘cos they taste like you“, it’s easy to see some would think why this song is about same-sex romance.

The song has stirred up a lot of controversy, but if you just ignore the unnecessary critical attention to the song, it’s actually a beautiful love ballad? Karen’s vocals in this track are actually phenom, and if it were anyone else singing, I don’t think this song would have been as great.

Oh, speaking of, meet the members that make up Little Big Town. From left to right, we have Phillip Sweet, Kimberly Roads Schlapman, Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook (#DamnDaniel), with the latter two of the four being happily married since 2006.

Little Big Town were formed in the early 2000s, but their career never really picked up momentum until 2006 with the release of their single Boondocks, the first single from the album The Road to Here, which became their first top 10 hit on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. This was really the catalyst behind their kickstart to stardom, because ever since then, Little Big Town have been a big player in the country music genre, and their star power has only grown exponentially.

My personal favourite Little Big Town song Tornado emerged from their fifth studio album which was called – GASP! – Tornado. While one would naturally think that this song would be about a natural disaster, it actually details a woman’s anger towards her unfaithful man. “Yeah, I’m gonna lift this house. Spin it all around. Toss it in the air and put it in the ground. Make sure you’re never found.“ Like, damn girl.

It doesn’t seem as if Little Big Town’s momentum is going to be stopped any time soon, so while I’ve got you here, here are a few recommended tracks for your entertainment:

Recommended TracksDay Drinking from Pain KillerYour Side of the Bed from TornadoGirl Crush from Pain Killer
Pavement Ends from Tornado

And I will leave you with the plain and simple music video that shook the close-minded traditional world of country music.

Surprise. An article about the ever-rising superstardom of Canadian not-so-young-anymore heartthrob, Justin Bieber.

It would be foolish of me not to capitalize on Bieber’s explosion in popularity, right?

The artist of the month featured in the month of January is Justin Bieber.

I never thought I’d see the day where I’d willingly save a picture of Justin Bieber onto my computer.

Admittedly, I am not a fan of the man they call Justin Bieber. I don’t really follow his every move like the Beliebers out there, I don’t really listen to his music, nor am I a big fan of his apparent Diva attitude. What I can admit to, however, is that the recent change in his sound has caught the attention of a more grown-up audience, and for good reason as well. Justin Bieber isn’t a boy anymore. He’s a man. And other grown ass men around the world are acknowledging that.

This babyfaced blond was first discovered on YouTube (it seems like every bloody artist nowadays is discovered on YouTube, and here I am tone deaf with no concept of pitch whatsoever). He was soon signed to a record deal and released his first album in 2010, where he recorded typical teeny bopper pop songs like Somebody to Love and the infamous Baby featuring Ludacris. His babyface, my-voice-hasn’t-cracked-yet vocals and typical teenager charm caught the attention of young impressionable girls worldwide, and the Biebs became a hit.

Of course, you can’t possibly be liked by everyone, and as much as Bieber was adored, he was despised by a more mature audience.

Apparently, Bieber didn’t stick to his goody two-shoes image too long, and he chose to go down a more risky path. In 2012, Bieber released his third studio album, Believe. The single As Long As You Love Me featuring Big Sean included a more adult video clip, including scenes of Bieber being beat up by his girlfriend’s disapproving father (I actually laughed at this. I’m a terrible person.) After these more adult-y songs, it would be expected that Bieber would be more well received, right? Well, other than the ridiculously catchy song Boyfriend, adults still didn’t respond well to the Biebs.

Fast forward to 2016, and now this meme could not be any more accurate.

This is truth.

So what happened in between the release of Believe and today? Bieber’s fourth album, Purpose. The cover art should spell it out for you, really; Bieber isn’t a boy anymore, and he wants to let people know that. This album featured hit after hit after hit, with my most favourite being Sorry, where the video clip features an old family friend New Zealand dance extraordinaire Parris Goebel and her dance crew. Compare Bieber’s first album to his most recent, and you can clearly see the evolution that the Canadian has gone through.

With only four studio albums to his name, it’s surprising that the man has amassed such an empire and mass following, and it doesn’t seem like his popularity is stopping any time soon. I mean, today it was reported that he had dyed his hair purple. Like, this is headline stuff right here. I dyed my hair bright red once, and no one wrote about that… tear.

I acknowledge that Bieber has come a long way since his Bieber-hair days, and does have the talent that warrants this much attention, but I am quite content to sit here listening to Kacey Musgraves tbh. Y’all can have Bieber.

The year 2015 may very well have been the greatest year in Sam Hunt’s life. Three singles from his debut album have been number one on the US Country and US Country Airplay charts (Leave the Night On, Take Your Time and House Party) and the album was also number one on the US Country album chart and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 chart, which is an outstanding feat for a rookie country music artist.

On top of this, Hunt has been nominated for several awards this year, including Single of the Year and Song of the Year for Take Your Time and New Artist of the Year at the CMAs. He won the Songwriter-artist of the Year award at the ASCAP Country Music Awards, the Breakthrough Video of the Year award at the CMT Music Awards, and he also took home the New Artist of the Year award at the Taste of Country Music Awards.

Sam’s had a killer year, no doubt, but that’s not what I wanted to discuss.

I wanted to write about why I liked Sam Hunt. I mean, really get to the heart of why I’m such a fangirl of his. And this also leads me to what really annoys me about most of his other fans.

Looking at the image above, there’s no denial that Sam Hunt is a very attractive man. Every box you didn’t even know you had on your “Dream Man Checklist”, he ticks off: he’s tall, dark, handsome, can play guitar and sing well, and he also has an affinity for snapbacks and funky pairs of pants. Yes, I admire his looks and, yes, it does make it easier to like him.

But that’s not why I like him, and that’s what bothers me about other Sam Hunt fans.

All of the comments on his photos across various different social media platforms tend to target one thing about his person – his looks. Fair enough, say and do whatever you want, but when there are so many other impressive feats about this man, it gets kind of repetitive, irritating and monotonous when all one can say about Sam Hunt is “OMG BAE AF”.

Let’s take, for example, the fact that he had a hand in writingevery single one of his songs on the Montevallo album. If you’re not aware of how the music industry generally works, the singer does not write their songs; they are given demos sung by other vocalists and written by other smart people, choose whether they want to record that song, and voila. That song is now “theirs”. But Sam took this to the next level and co-wrote each song on his album and on top of that, recorded the vocals. If I’m not mistaken, he also had a hand in the instrument playing, but don’t hold me to that.

That’s talent, right?

On top of that, whether this is intentional or not, Sam is ushering in a new era to the country music genre. The genre of country music is very traditional in the sense that it isn’t too welcoming to change of any kind. Sam’s style of music is different in that while the country roots are evident in his music, he welcomes inspiration from other types of music into his songs. RnB, hip-hop and pop are welcome influences into songs such as Take Your Time and Single for the Summer and while this has caused backlash from country music traditionalists, I for one thoroughly enjoy the change.

On the topic of change, this is where I have to mention that I get daily Google alerts every time Sam Hunt is mentioned on the web. I like to think of it as stalking dedication as a fan. Receiving these Google alerts in my e-mail inbox daily, I get to read a lot of articles that mention the country musician that other fans might miss, and some of them have a very common theme: “Sam Hunt has a black back-up guitarist! Wow! Much shock! Many horror!” I’m sorry but it’s 2015. It shouldn’t be that noteworthy that Sam has a back-up guitarist who is black (Tyrone Carreker, if you’re interested in looking up this talented guitarist). These same articles also talk about Sam’s personal style as if they’re watching a dog walk on its hind legs, to borrow a quote from Mean Girls. Sure, he isn’t wearing Wrangler jeans with cowboy boots, but why does that prove to be a topic of discussion? There isn’t anything unusual about the way he dresses. I love his style personally.

Through his music, the way he dresses, and even who he chooses to have in his band, Sam is ushering in a revolution in country music, and on top of his enormous amounts of talent and absolutely charming personality, that is why I like Sam Hunt. Not because his biceps are huge (kiss me!) or his award-winning smile, but the fact that he is changing the country music genre, and for someone like me, that is very liberating. Hopefully as Sam’s career continues, the minds of country music fans will open and they’ll see their beloved music in a totally different light. I mean, even today, women in country music still aren’t treated the same as their male counterparts. This shouldn’t even be a problem.

Recommended tracksTake Your Time from MontevalloBreak Up in a Small Town from MontevalloSingle for the Summer from MontevalloCop Car from Montevallo (FUN FACT: he originally co-wrote this song for Keith Urban)

If you haven’t heard the name Rose Falcon before, by the end of this article, you’re going to wish you did.

Widow’s Lure will now have a monthly column featuring an artist of my choice, whether they be a big mainstream name or someone no one has ever really heard of. These pieces may have comments from the artist themselves, or will just be me speaking about how much I adore them. Stay tuned as a wide variety of artists will be featured on my website.

This beautiful young lady has grown up in the country music industry; her mother passed away at a young age from breast cancer and so her father was forced to raise her by himself, and the singer-songwriter did so by taking her on tours with him. It was as if country music was meant to be in her blood. As if taking a page out of her father’s book, Rose grew up to become a singer-songwriter herself; some of her songs have been performed by the likes of Faith Hill and Lady Antebellum, and judging by how big those names are, it’s natural to assume that Rose is a superstar in her own right.

Falcon’s first album entitled Rose Falcon was released in 2003 while she was the ripe age of 19. Yes. She was 19 when her first album was released. Let that sink in for a while. Fast forward a decade and in 2013 andFalcon has released two separate EP’s, first 19th Avenue, the EP followed closely by 19th Avenue, the EP Volume 2.

Oh, and did I mention she’s married to country singer Rodney Atkins? So you can jolly well call her Rose Falcon Atkins.

Talking songs specifically on both of her latest EPs, Rose has a unique sound with a deep almost husky voice that is unmistakenably hers. Her song Guitar Man – which, for the record, is my personal favourite – perfectly illustrates what it’s like to be in a relationship to a musician who’s on the road for most of the year. The song which is evidently describing her relationship with Rodney as one would assume, the deep and soulful lyrics could make even the most concrete stronghold of a person break down a tiny bit. The emotions of this song are only made that more vivid by Rose’s soulful vocals.

The chorus of this slow, sweet song is what really gets to me. Brace yourself. “He comes and he goes, he’s here, then he’s gone. Says he’s tired of the road, but the show must go on. He’s all mine for a week, then he’s gone with the band. Sings that he’s always leaving with my heart in his hands. It sure is lonely loving a guitar man.” This one is for all the young girls or guys out there who think the life of a musician’s wife/husband is glamorous because, as Falcon clearly describes in this song, it isn’t all fun and games. But, as she sings “The moment that he holds me, it’s worth all the lonesome nights. I forget the heartache when he whispers that he loves me and sings to me the sweetest lullaby,” suggests that it’s not all rainy days being the lover of a guitar man.

The most popular song from her volume one EP, Thinkin’ ‘Bout You, which has the same soothing tune that has almost become Rose’s signature sound, features a more upbeat vibe than that Guitar Man. This track tells the story about Rose and a former flame of hers; they have gone on their separate ways and have found new partners, but, for some reason, Rose cannot stop thinking about this man. “I would have thought by now these feelings would be gone. I guess my heart must have a mind all of its own“, suggests that getting over a former flame is harder than it really ought to be. This song takes on a new angle of the typical love song, where she’s obviously developed strong feelings for this man and is having trouble getting over them, even though she knows she should. Those darn feelings.

Rose’s signature sound is what really makes her stand out among all the other young fresh female faces in her genre. Her slow, relaxed and almost laid-back song is what makes her Rose Falcon, and it’s what caused her to be the very first featured Artist of the Month on Widow’s Lure.

Recommended tracksGuitar Man from 19th Avenue, the EPGive In To Me from 19th Avenue, the EP

Another great thing about Rose is that her music can appeal to those whose interest doesn’t lie with the country music genre. Her music is easy to listen to and I can easily recommend it to those who dig blues, jazz or even pop music. Check out her latest EPs and some of her older music. You will not regret it!